How to securely password protect an Excel file

Posted on January 26, 2008 at 7:06 am

Password protecting your Excel worksheet can prevent others from tampering with your data, but it can also be a great way to protect your other passwords as well. When using Microsoft Excel, there are many ways that you can password protect your spreadsheet.

Microsoft Excell 2007 Logo

One of the first and easiest methods is to password protect the entire sheet or workbook. To do this in Microsoft Excel 2007, first go to the Review tab and then click on Protect Sheet or Protect Workbook.

Protect Worksheet

When a pop-up window appears, select your options and type in the desired password. Your password can be something crazy, that no one would ever suspect (like 45pQ93S21!). In order to remember your password, copy it into a different workbook for safe keeping.

Protect Worksheet Pop Up Box

Create a new file, just to store your passwords. You can name this file anything you want, but it would probably be safer to name it something mundane – like HistoricalStockPrices.xls – instead of something that screams “open me” like ListOfMyPasswords.xls. In this new file, create your password list that you can then refer to whenever you want to open a document.

Password List

Next, password protect the entire workbook. To do this, click on File, then Save As. When the file-save window appears, type in your file name, then select the Tools drop down menu. From that menu, select General Options.

This will enable you to password protect the entire workbook and prevent anyone else from opening it and viewing its contents. For this password – remember to use one that you will remember. There is no easy way to retrieve a lost Excel password, so make this one something unique that you won’t forget.

Save with protection

Now, whenever you want to open that file, you will first see a screen like the one below asking for your password. This will enable you to protect all of your passwords and never forget them.

Password Prompt

Useful Tip: Creating a password file can be especially useful if you are required to frequently change your password at work and always have trouble remembering the new password.

Summary of Simple Steps To Protect Your Work

1. Protect your sheets using the “Protect Workbook” button and a crazy password that can’t easily be guessed.

2. Store all your passwords in one sheet so that you’ll remember them. Password protect the entire sheet when you save it by using the Tools – General Options functionality. For this password, use something that you will remember.

If you’re looking for a way into a protected Excel workbook, you can read my article on how to crack an Excel password.

This is a guest post by Karen Worthy, a tech enthusiast.

[tags]Microsoft, Microsoft Excel 2007, Excel, password, password protection, workbook, spreadsheet, protect sheet, protect workbook, save passwords, remember passwords, keep your passwords[/tags]

» Filed Under MS Office Tips

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Comments

45 Responses to “How to securely password protect an Excel file”

  1. Sabrina said on : January 27th, 2008 at 7:50 am

    Thx for this article! I am always having to change my pasword at work and am always forgetting my passwords after I change them. This will help.


  2. El Di Pablo said on : January 28th, 2008 at 8:05 am

    careful Sabrina, you are still better off memorizing your password. There are a lot of freely downloadable programs designed to crack Excel passwords.


  3. kirti said on : February 14th, 2008 at 12:20 am

    i forget my password i want to open my excel file it is important.how can i open it


  4. Mark said on : March 9th, 2008 at 9:12 pm

    Thanks, this is a great help :)


  5. Sergiu said on : May 14th, 2008 at 9:57 am

    Thanks!


  6. Steve said on : May 23rd, 2008 at 1:27 pm

    Yeah, that’s right. Save your passwords in an unencrypted EXCEL DOCUMENT. If IT finds out you get your ass fired quicker than you can new security holes are discovered in Windows. Also, if you think your data is safe in a password protected excel document you’re living in fantasyland.


  7. cheryl said on : June 10th, 2008 at 3:51 am

    thank you very much… It helps a lot..

    More power…


  8. Kiran said on : August 6th, 2008 at 10:59 am

    Thanx for this article, it has been of gr8 help.


  9. Ankush said on : August 13th, 2008 at 3:57 am

    @Kirti : Perhaps you can take a look at the available softwares, just do a general search.


  10. JP Rao said on : September 18th, 2008 at 1:15 am

    Nice tip. I did not know how to do this before.
    “Easy to follow steps” make anyone understand the procedure. Thank you.


  11. Mubbashir Ali said on : November 4th, 2008 at 11:09 am

    thanks for article, before I do not know how to password protect an Excel file!


  12. Funso said on : December 4th, 2008 at 7:12 am

    Thanks for the article..Was very useful


  13. Maria Evans said on : January 13th, 2009 at 11:08 am

    The excel protection system has many vulnerabilities although these have been improved from version to version. This website has a useful article relating to your query:

    http://www.datasafexl.com/vulnerabilities.htm


  14. Pai said on : May 21st, 2009 at 5:34 am

    Thanks for the post…I now feel safe that my Excel file is securely password protected. :)


  15. srikanth said on : May 27th, 2009 at 4:53 am

    The Article was very useful …It taught me how to password protect the Excel sheets….:-)


  16. shihab said on : November 29th, 2009 at 5:33 am

    This was a really useful article! How hard is it to crack or hack a password-protected Excel workbook? Thanks.


  17. Waseem Hassan said on : December 10th, 2009 at 3:23 am

    I need file security. I have followed your instructions, but the protection is not working! I really must protect an Excel document, can you help?


  18. Subbarao.BV said on : December 24th, 2009 at 10:25 am

    hi,

    This tutorial is of great learning for me. Thank you! Office 2003 has a simple way of protecting excel workbooks with a password. Why in office 2007 did they make it more complicated.


  19. suresh said on : January 4th, 2010 at 1:08 am

    Simply super! Thanks for the info on password protecting Excel files!


  20. Nupur Gautam said on : January 5th, 2010 at 12:18 am

    Valuable input. Thanks


  21. Laura said on : January 26th, 2010 at 11:45 pm

    Thanks! This was very helpful! I feel much better now knowing my Excel file is password protected.


  22. Wayne Q said on : January 28th, 2010 at 12:45 pm

    Is there any way to protect Excel passwords from Password Removal/Retrevial programs?


  23. Samuel said on : February 1st, 2010 at 2:07 am

    Thanks! This was very helpful! I feel much better now knowing my Excel file is password protected.


  24. Jaya said on : February 4th, 2010 at 4:41 am

    Thanks for the tips on password protecting an Excel sheet, but are there any keyboard shortcuts to do this?


  25. Loanp said on : February 17th, 2010 at 3:10 am

    I want to remove my old password of some Excel files. How must I do this ? Please help me.


  26. Seal said on : March 6th, 2010 at 12:16 am

    This is pretty useless. I’m not sure about Excel 2007 or 2010, but password protection can easily be cracked. If you want real protection, you should encrypt your files. You can use EFS, BitLocker, or a third party program like TrueCrypt.


  27. mike said on : March 19th, 2010 at 12:19 pm

    Thanks, I’ve been wanting to password protect my Excel file, but could not find it by myself!

    thanks really
    mike


  28. Sangeeta said on : April 9th, 2010 at 4:52 am

    Thanks! Now hopefully no one can hack into my Excel spreadsheet! How secure is the password?


  29. Harish said on : April 13th, 2010 at 5:07 am

    Wonderful information on securing Excel files! Thank you so much!


  30. Jackson said on : May 19th, 2010 at 4:42 pm

    Well written, thank you! I hope my Excel sheet is secure now. :)


  31. Abhijay said on : June 6th, 2010 at 3:19 am

    I have got peace of mind by knowing how to protect my Excel Sheet. I am sincerely thankful to you for this effort.


  32. vijay said on : June 9th, 2010 at 5:58 am

    Good. Now I know how to password protect my Excel sheets…


  33. suzanne said on : June 11th, 2010 at 1:21 am

    Nice tip, thanks!


  34. Anthony said on : June 11th, 2010 at 11:56 am

    You know, if people are looking to protect their important stuff and you want to publish something to help them do that, it’s really pretty irresponsible to also tell people how to break into their so-called “secured” documents. My computer was recently stolen and any jerk can now read your article and basically have access to every single password I have. Thanks


  35. KHUSHI said on : July 1st, 2010 at 12:55 am

    i want to protect my execl file’s sheets. i want to protect different sheets with different passwords. how can i protect it in this way?


  36. Vikram Don said on : July 2nd, 2010 at 4:54 am

    Ya I like it.Thanks for the tips on password protecting an Excel sheet, but are there any keyboard shortcuts to do this?


  37. Amit said on : July 5th, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Thank you!!!


  38. Talha Khan said on : September 3rd, 2010 at 11:20 pm

    This feature of protection is not very secure. There should be something which prevents others from copying the workbook.


  39. sat said on : September 7th, 2010 at 3:26 am

    Thanks, I hope no one can crack into my Excel file now?


  40. sj said on : October 26th, 2010 at 10:14 am

    I tried to read protect worksheet using officw 2007 through the Protect workbook tab as suggested. However it opens a window requiring a trial version of information rights management by microsoft and wouldn’t let me do it without it. What is this and what happened to the old way of just securing a workbook.


  41. Vivek said on : November 4th, 2010 at 10:21 pm

    thank you very much. i have an important Excel file which must not be read by anyone other than me.


  42. haj said on : November 8th, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    this article was fabulous for Excel users!!!


  43. nigilkollara said on : November 10th, 2010 at 8:51 am

    Thanks!! I could not find this option in Excel2007 by myself. Thank u very much


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